Corrections officers at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre were still refusing to work Thursday morning, citing healthy and safety concerns at the facility.

CHCH News is reporting that the Barton Street jail is still in lockdown.

The union representing corrections officers at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre is instructing its members to refuse an order sending them back to work, after a health and safety dispute with management launched the jail into a prolonged lockdown.

This likely means the corrections officers will be suspended, said Dan Sidsworth, Ontario Public Service Employee Union (OPSEU) corrections division chair.

The workers say they will only go back to work if they are allowed to complete a search and wear protective safety vests, he added.

The jail had been in a lockdown for more than a day to search for a possible weapon when jail staff refused to work. The dispute brought the jail to a standstill, with inmates in lockdown, visitors barred and jail staff stuck in a holding pattern.

The Ministry of Labour was called in Wednesday to help negotiate the work refusal, said ministry spokesperson Matt Blajer.

By late afternoon, the ministry concluded that the work refusal was not justified according to Ontario law, and management ordered the staff back to work, he said.

Sidsworth said the decision cites the fact that risk is an inherent part of their jobs.

“But it’s not an inherent risk to be stabbed or assaulted,” he added.

The union was told to take up the issue with the jail’s internal health and safety committee, which it has. But Sidsworth said he still won’t be sending the corrections officers back to work in unsafe conditions.

The inmate lockdown began Monday when it was discovered that a piece of metal from a fixture inside the building was missing, he said.

Most of the facility was searched that day, but the contraband, which could be used as a weapon, was not found. It was agreed the remainder of the fourth floor would be searched Tuesday.

But when staff reported to work Tuesday morning, management directed staff to resume normal operations, Sidsworth said, adding that the corrections officers objected for safety reasons.

After negotiations all day Tuesday it was agreed that the search would resume Wednesday, but when staff arrived they were told that only some officers would be allowed to wear ballistics vests, he said. This is a vest only authorized in specific situations, such as searches for weapons and prisoner transports.

Multiple inmates inside the group housing area, where they have access to a phone, called the Spectator reporting the lockdown. An alarm could be heard sounding in the background.

On a break in front of the jail Wednesday afternoon, members of the management team, in white shirts, refused to comment.

Visitors who attempted to visit inmates were blocked from entering and told it was unclear when the lockdown would end.

The jail’s superintendent’s office referred all questions to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Spokesperson Brent Ross would only say that the jail was in a lockdown for a security search, and deferred all other comments to the Ministry of Labour.